Coordination versus differentiation in a standards war: 56K modems
Abstract
56K modems were introduced under two competing incompatible standards. We show the importance of competition between internet service providers in the adoption process. We show that ISPs were less likely to adopt the technology that more competitors adopted. This result is particularly striking given that industry participants expected coordination on one standard or the other. We speculate about the role of ISP differentiation in preventing the market from achieving standardization until a standard setting organization intervened.
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Cites
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Rochet, J.-C., & Tirole, J. (2003) · Journal of the European Economic Association · doi:10.1162/154247603322493212 · Cited by 5,642 · see citing works
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The Economics of Two-Sided Markets
Rysman, M. (2009) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.23.3.125 · Cited by 1,261 · see citing works
Self-citationBoudreau, K. J. (2012) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.1110.0678 · Cited by 676 · see citing works
Managing competition on a two‐sided platform
Belleflamme, P., & Peitz, M. (2019) · Journal of Economics & Management Strategy · doi:10.1111/jems.12311 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
- Authors
- Augereau, A., Greenstein, S., & Rysman, M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Venue
- The RAND Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 887-909
- ISSN
- 0741-6261 (ISSN-L)
- 1756-2171
- OpenAlex
- W3122033129
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 20.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The RAND Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Digital Platforms and Economics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › ICT Impact and Policies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting
- Keywords
- technology standards, internet service providers, technology adoption, coordination, differentiation, standardization, standards organizations
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